Bradley Cooper Nabs Leading Film Role Intended For Leonardo DiCaprio

Bradley Cooper reportedly nabbed a role that Leonardo DiCaprio was supposed to play, reveals The Hollywood Reporter. Cooper is in early talks to replace the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star in the film Nightmare Alley.

The film is a remake of a 1947 film that starred actors Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, reported THR. The movie will reportedly be directed Guillermo Del Toro, director of the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water.

Although the site reported that DiCaprio was long rumored to take on the lead role, he would drop out of the project. Cooper also has not signed on the dotted line, but it is reported he will play the male lead in the film, Stan Carlisle. Variety reported that Cooper recently received a formal offer to star in the film.

Nightmare Alley will center on an ambitious con man who hooks up with a female psychiatrist for a mentalist routine, but she eventually turns the tables on him, as per the film’s original premise, stated THR.

The actor-turned-director saw his career skyrocket in 2018. This included his debut as a director in the Lady Gaga film A Star Is Born, which according to Variety, grossed more than $400 million worldwide. He also had a starring role in the film The Mule opposite Clint Eastwood.

DiCaprio currently stars in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as fading Western TV star Rick Dalton with Brad Pitt as his stunt double Cliff Booth. The film, set in 1969, details the twosome’s friendship and their difficulty in navigating both an industry and era in flux.

“You come to Hollywood and you’re basically isolated and left to your own devices. [Rick and Cliff] rely on this friendship for everything. We immediately fell into those shoes. We understood that relationship [laughs] so quickly that on the first day, we were those guys,” said DiCaprio to The New York Times.

“This is Quentin’s most personal film,” said the film’s producer David Heyman to Entertainment Weekly. “These are his memories of growing up in Los Angeles and being a fan of Hollywood.”

Cooper, according to THR, is also developing a film about the life of Leonard Bernstein titled Bernstein. Leonard Bernstein’s estate has reportedly awarded exclusive music rights to Cooper’s project. Cooper will direct and star in the film as well as produce the motion picture alongside Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, among others.

Bernstein’s children Jamie, Alexander, and Nina Bernstein said in a statement published by The Hollywood Reporter that they were happy to form a partnership with Paramount Pictures to tell their father’s tale in the biographical film.

Bernstein is expected to begin production in fall 2019. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood hits theaters July 26.